Riverland businesses vie for 'last' sustainable futures funding

The South Australian Government says it expects the current round of Riverland Sustainable Futures Funding will be the last.

The $20 million fund has been distributed to a range of Riverland businesses over the past three years, to drive economic development in the region.

The Minister for Regional Development, Gail Gago, reopened the fund in September, inviting businesses to apply for a share in the fund's remaining $3.9 million.

Ms Gago says 32 expressions of interest have been lodged, seeking more than $14 million.

She says a short-list of seven applications will now be considered.

The Member for Chaffey, Tim Whetstone, says the number of applications is a good sign for the local economy.

He says he wants to see the funding delivered as soon as possible, so the successful businesses can get a start on their projects.

"Finally, we're getting to the pointy end of the commitment from the Government to inject $20 million into our local economy and the diversity being generated by the futures fund recipients has been pretty good," he said.

"What I'm very keen to see is the remaining $3.9 million put to projects so that we can get on with building our economy.

He says there's no reason to hold up the process.

"I think the Minister has had ample time to assess the projects, as have the panel which do that assessment criteria," he said.

"I would be very hopeful that the Minister and her department would be making those announcements for the remaining $3.9 million shortly. The sooner, the better."